Help on some land matters...

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
If it we're me, I'd start with a blank canvas, and to do that I would direct drill the lot and get a good mixed lay cover. If you're not interested in farming, I would then plan where you're going to dig a pond, and plan a decent path route that offers a reasonable length walk.

Around/ along each side of the pathway, I would plant a mixture of soft and hardwood tree's, the soft will grow fast (silver birch/spruce) and once established you can thin the softs out to give the hards a good chance. Leave a few blank areas and let mother nature do the rest. In a few years you'll have a wildlife haven.

In future, all you'll need is a decent sized ride-on mower to keep the paths short and a chainsaw to thin the softs out..

If you have a dig around you may find some support funding to help you.

Quite. Lots of recommendations about ‘sorting it out’, without first establishing what the OP wants to end up with.
Assuming it’s a recreational patch to walk the dogs in etc, it won’t need to be turned into a field resembling a dairy farmer’s mowing grass.
 

7610 super q

Never Forgotten
Honorary Member
Dear oh dear, mucho silly advice on here so far. You have a magnificent 5 acres. Spend £150k on a new Fendt, £100k on a no till drill, park them in the back of the shed unused, then buy a Ford 6610 and 3 furrow plough, do the job right first time, and propel yourself into the realms of " Proper farmer " status.
Big bonfire to burn all the horsey tack lying around ( including the horse and horse owner too, if possible )(y)
Don't forget digging plenty of pit fall traps to trap ramblers. (y)
The sooner you fall out with all your neighbours, the more respect you'll gain.(y)
 

Derrick Hughes

Member
Location
Ceredigion
IF.... a contractor or farmer can be found who would drill a few acres with a direct drill. Very difficult, I suspect Derrick... I bought a drill because of this issue!
I would drill one acre with a certain distance
That man with one acre may one day have a thousand acres . But don't care , a small man means just as much as a big man in my book .
And given that there is more direct drill around here than flies on a dung heap they are falling over themselves to get work
 

Dry Rot

Member
Livestock Farmer
Oh dear! A surplus of information is what we are all suffering from these days!

About 40 years ago when I moved in here with little more experience than working on relatives farms during holidays, there was a thing called ADAS which provided free advice to farmers. These days I think you probably have to pay but it will be money well spent.

I strongly suggest you make a friend of your local adviser and listen to his advice. By all means, listen to the advice on here but with discrimination. Then get a soil test done, carefully think about what you want to do with the land, and buy that MF135 if you want. Buy wisely, look after it, and you will have an appreciating asset that will last you for decades.

 

Ffermer Bach

Member
Livestock Farmer
That should get you a decent compact Kubota with a few hours on it. If you're planning on ever doing any improvements on the house/garden a loader is super-useful. With pallet forks. Big agricultural tractors are better value certainly, but you need more space for them, and they won't be as comfortable. Is this work or pleasure?

Sheep (and small cows) are great, but best to use a local farmer. Don't buy your own sheep.

Frankly, there's probably nothing wrong with getting a local contractor to run their flail over the area a few times a year while you work out what you are interested in doing (and spending time vs. money on). Their big kit will be much quicker than your ~5ft flail.

The "Accidental Smallholder" forum is a good place to read up on smaller-scale farming too.
I think, having a few sheep is a real bind, and pain to be honest. A couple of years ago, I saw a post on facebook, asking for someone to shear half a dozen sheep, showed it to my son, who said he would do it for a few quid, he went there, sheep were not in, no dogs, no hurdles or handling facilities, spent ages trying to catch them (two I think he could not catch), so by the time he paid his mileage, and the hours running up and down a small field it was all a disaster! Never again. I think if I was to shear a few sheep, I would say £40 or £50 minimum call out, and they must be penned when I get there. I am sure others would feel the same, so that makes it very hard to keep just a few sheep, even heptovac comes in minimum 25 doses.
 

farmerm

Member
Location
Shropshire
Why change it? Someone would pay silly money to rent that patch for their pet pony as it is.. Horsey folk have little understanding about money, if they did they wouldn't own a horse. :ROFLMAO: Even if they are a bad payer you will still be less out of pocket than trying to improve the grass for a few sheep
 

sim2kuk

Member
I would drill one acre with a certain distance
That man with one acre may one day have a thousand acres . But don't care , a small man means just as much as a big man in my book .
And given that there is more direct drill around here than flies on a dung heap they are falling over themselves to get work

Where would I find someone to do a Direct Drill?
 

TheTallGuy

Member
Location
Cambridgeshire
Bang in a few rows of fruit trees - apples, plums & pears. You can't beat your own fruit fresh off the tree, especially plums at the peak of ripeness. I always recommend older varieties for best flavour rather than modern ones that have been developed for the supermarkets to look good on the shelves for a week or more.

Cherries are good too, but keeping the birds & blackfly off can be an up hill battle.
 

sim2kuk

Member
Sorry I see East Sussex . I know quite a few down there . Was messaged by one last night asking if I could help find him some extra work
How far are you from Partridge Green . Have one there

I think about 30 miles - once we're in I'll make sure I put something on your FB page and we can go from there.
 

curlietailz

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Sedgefield
Another “thumbs up” for visiting all your neighbouring farmers
Going round and saying Hello will go a long way
And ask them who the best contractor/hedge cutter/etc is..... they’ll know
 

sim2kuk

Member
Bang in a few rows of fruit trees - apples, plums & pears. You can't beat your own fruit fresh off the tree, especially plums at the peak of ripeness. I always recommend older varieties for best flavour rather than modern ones that have been developed for the supermarkets to look good on the shelves for a week or more.

Cherries are good too, but keeping the birds & blackfly off can be an up hill battle.

That sounds good to me - we'll look to do something along those lines - I did also fancy some vines as we have an area of about half an acre on a gentle, south-facing slope - just be something nice to do in my spare time.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 80 42.3%
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    Votes: 66 34.9%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 15.9%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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